Legal Aid Society of Cleveland

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
340866026
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Cleveland, OH, USA
Phone
2168615500
Rating
86
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$18,727,557
Expenses
$21,542,472
Assets
$20,294,705
Liabilities
$5,712,123

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

31 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JOE RODGERS (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • QUO VADIS I COBB (PRESIDENT EMERITUS)
  • HARLIN ADELMAN (PRESIDENT)
  • DAN URBAN (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • GWENDOLYN GRAFFENREED (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • COLLEEN COTTER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • COLLEEN COTTER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $282,452 total reported compensation
  • TANZALEA DANIELS (DIRECTOR OF FINANCE): $245,281 total reported compensation
  • DIANE JAMES (DIRECTOR OF DIVERSITY): $237,953 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

See schedule o.

What it reported doing in 2025

Legal aid improves safety and health: secures safety for survivors of domestic violence and other crimes, increase access to health care, improve health and safety of homes, and mitigate the social determinants of health. Legal aid's strategies in achieving this goal include: securing safety for domestic violence survivors and other victims of crime; increasing access to health care; and improving health and safety of homes and neighborhoods. In 2025, legal aid increased safety for 96% of clients for whom safety was an issue and expanded our medical legal partnerships with local health providers.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 85
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 18
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 94.9%; rating input score 95
  • Program expense ratio: 81.3%; rating input score 81
  • Fundraising efficiency: $15.93 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.1%; rating input score 94; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -15%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.94; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.28; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 10.3%; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 11.1% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 8.5% per year; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 8.9% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 94.9% of revenue deployed · 81.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 20 of 20 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $17.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $282K · 31 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $169K reported
  • Consistency: 32 of 33 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 11 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 2 filed related-organization links
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 47/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 4/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 27/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 23/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 43/100.